if i had twitter 2.0.

Round two. I didn't have as much time to think this week because my funemployment has come to an end. For now. But here you have some random thoughts for the week:

On Sunday I ran into a guy that I was in a play (Shenandoah) with back when Rodgers Memorial Theater was Pages Lane Theater. The best line in that play? "If we don't try, then we don't do; and if we don't do, then why are we here?" AMEN.

An older gentleman, whom I respect very much, told me this week that if he had to go back and choose a career all over again, he would have gone with music.

The French are protesting. It's part of their culture. They've been doing it for centuries--even before 1789 when they gathered on a tennis court and decided they weren't going to roll over and take it anymore from the monarchy. And then stormed the Bastille. Right now they are striking because the government is threatening to pass a bill that would delay retirement two years. Swinging their unions into action, the protestors have blockaded fuel reserves, leaving one third of the nation's gas stations empty. And no one writes better, or more offensive protest signs. One particularly irreverent sign refers to Carla Bruni, the gorgeous Italian born French singer/supermodel-turned-first-lady: Hey Carla, we're like you--we're being screwed by the Chief of State.

Wislawa Szymborska, the Polish poet, said "I prefer the hell of chaos to the hell of order." I like you Wislawa.

What marks the difference between murder and assassination? Societal import?

There's a third circumstance which may be interpreted as me mumbling: talking on my cell phone. If I hold it in my right hand, or go hands-free with it against my shoulder, the person on the other end can't understand a thing. Add fatigue or apathy to the mix and there's no hope of intelligible conversation.

I can't picture myself ever getting to the point where I build, or even buy, a house.

Matt's house now has a Scentsy in it.

"If they're here, they should have to learn English." This phrase drives me up the wall for multiple reasons, but one in particular. Yes, I think people should put forth an effort to learn the language of whatever country they inhabit. And I think most people do try. However, "they", or sometimes "those people", usually refers to adults. Do you know how difficult it is for an adult to learn a second language? For four semesters I taught beginning French to college students. We had an hour of class every day in which I spoke almost entirely in French and they were forced to employ the basic French grammar and vocabulary they were learning. They had an hour of homework every night. They were required to attend French-speaking activities, watch French movies, and meet once a week outside of class to speak French with a classmate. We had oral and written exams every other week. We sampled French food and listened to French music. My classes were supervised by one of the top French language instructors in the country--the woman who had written our text book. All the best, most researched means of second language instruction were employed to help these bright, young minds learn French. Some of them, let's say half, did everything in their power to learn the language. Everyday I would encourage them, praise them for their progress--tell them they were doing great. You know what? I LIED. Their French was awful--ear-numbingly painful. Their comprehension was limited to theatrically expressive, slow speaking on my behalf. The few who succeeded in learning more than simple phrases were those who had previously learned another foreign language. If they can't do it, how can we expect an immigrant, day-laborer (who has no such language resources) to learn English in the United States? If we take a look back at our progenitors, most of us will find that learning English didn't kick in until the second generation.

You may have heard this before, but it is true: Women are most attractive when they are not trying to be.

The Tea Party movement doesn't sound like much of a party to me.

I hate hearing that people are worried about me. Not just because I would rather not have my life's circumstances be a subject of discussion, but because it shows a lack of confidence on their behalf for what I am doing with those circumstances.

Jersey Shore--nature or nurture?

I almost signed up for an EMT class this week. Why? I've always been interested in emergency medicine and being a paramedic or a firefighter really appeals to me. They are occupations with the coolness-adventure factor of river guiding on a slightly more mature scale.

I miss being a river guide. And I still miss Paris. And Romania. And AFRICA.

Around the 18th and 19th centuries, a soldier's desertion, sickness, or even death could be attributed to nostalgia. This was determined to be most common amongst Swiss mercenaries because of their longing for the beauty of the Swiss Alps. The opposite of nostalgia, or homesickness, was wanderlust, coined by the Germans, as the desire to be far from home. My great-grandfather, Fritz Seibold, attributed his young adult wanderings (which led him to meet my great-grandmother, Frieda) to wanderlust.

Compare the words overcome and undergo.

When I was in college I almost signed up for the marines. Not kidding. I was especially interested in the scholarship possibilities when I was thinking of going to law school. After talking to a recruiter on campus, I went into their office and took an aptitude test. They made me an offer and I went home to think about it. I mentioned it to my dad and his wigging out made me chicken out. Mostly because I had seen in the movies what happens to guys at boot camp who have last names like Dickamore.

At a birthday party last weekend, I had to wear a name tag with my last name on it. Several people l.o.l.-ed and two people couldn't stop laughing. For several minutes. It's been a while since I got such boisterous reactions.

Springing leaks, convulsing core, spreading joints, and tearing flesh--a full on body kamikaze. Thank the Almighty I never "get" to give birth.

Ben's a freaking DAD. The word precious makes me queezy but there is nothing more that than a newborn baby girl.

As I get older it's becoming increasingly possible that I will marry a girl who has already been married and may already have kids. I think I'm OK with that.

If there hadn't been a Cold War, we probably never would have put a man on the moon. The government had decided that lunar exploration was too risky and too expensive. In 1961, the Soviets gave us the finger by successfully put Major Yuri Gagarin into orbit. Two years prior, the Soviets had also been the first to land a man-made object on the moon. The pressure was on, but with a price tag of 11 billion dollars, Kennedy was still reluctant. It took the encouragement of his vice-president Lyndon B. Johnson to seal the deal with the phrase "To be second in space is to be second in everything". In September 1962, Kennedy made an epic speech to a filled stadium at Rice University in Houston, Texas (He spoke there because of the university's involvement in the space effort--hence the "Houston, we have a problem" line). He announced that we were going to the moon and closed his speech with this: "Many years ago the great British explorer George Mallory, who was to die on Mount Everest, was asked why did he want to climb it. He said, 'Because it is there.'Well, space is there, and we're going to climb it, and the moon and the planets are there, and new hopes for knowledge and peace are there. And, therefore, as we set sail we ask God's blessing on the most hazardous and dangerous and greatest adventure on which man has ever embarked." Billions of dollars, 400,000 people, and seven years later, Neil Armstrong made one giant leap for mankind.

The movie script is coming along. Largely thanks to the genius that is Joel Ackerman.

This guy is in town tonight.

And those are some filtered thoughts for the week.